A main subject in the lab is the gene expression changes underlying the process of whole-body regeneration (the remarkable ability of some animals to form their body again after dissection into pieces) in the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis. We are analyzing the molecular genetics at the base of this amazing regenerative ability and compare this process to embryonic development. In our research we have discovered a little-known gene family, which has a role in regeneration but is also notorious for being involved in the metastasis of cells in many aggressive cancers in man.